I am a believer of the fact that there exist 9 energy centers or charkras in our body.

I was away for a month meditating, when I felt sudden jerks in my perinium and the whole body shuddered and jerked. There was a warm fuzzy feeling. The heartbeat spiked and it was scary. After a while there was sweet, initially metallic-tasting secretion from the soft palate in my mouth and my tongue auto curled backwards to dab at the secretions.

When the nine chakras are activated, there is an expansion of energy bilaterally stretching out to every extremity of the body.

The cosmic energy manifesting centrally through nine chakras and expressed through both the right and left parts of the human body, is like having 18 hands. The ferocity with which it surges, resembles a tiger, magnificent, powerful and terrifying.

When you think of Hinduism or traditional Indian culture, the concept of a Guru (the spiritual master), is more indispensable and more quintessential than the concept of God. The proverbial haiku by Saint Kabir ” Guru Govind dono khade kaa ke laagu paaye. Balihari Guru aapki, Govind diyo bataye” which translates to “Whilst in the dichotomy of the Guru (the spiritual master) and Govind (God) appearing simultaneously in front of me(kabir, the spiritual aspirant), at whose feet do I offer my obeisance first? I (kabir) choose to first bow to my Guru, as only through my Guru could I have realized God”. This is perhaps the most commonly accepted testimony to the necessity of a spiritual master.

Then again, a Guru who could churn out a disciple like Kabir, must have been some guru indeed. For, Kabir is considered to be a realized soul, yet he did not become a sadhu, nor did he ever abandon worldly life. Kabir, chose instead to live the balanced life of a householder and mystic, a tradesman and contemplative. This was something rare in those days, when abandoning the world, to vanish in a secluded cave in the Himalayas at the drop of a hat, was a precondition to most spiritual quests.

Having the right Guru is like being a son to a billionaire. We start of with a lot of bank balance. But ultimately, it is upon us to invest these funds judiciously. If I am a wastrel, even under the tutelage of the best of Gurus, the spiritual quest is destined to fail. Now, if a Guru is not apt, and has some selfish motives, the disciple is knocking on the wrong door already.

On the other hand, If we do not find or stumble upon a Guru to guide us, by the analogy, one is a pauper by birth. But that by no means no judgement to whether one can become a billionaire or not. It all boils down to our own belief and tenacity for a cause. Transcending belief are love and compassion for a cause.

Most religions proclaim that God is within oneself. If God is in everyone of us, it should be more than evident, that our spiritual quest must begin by loving ourselves, accepting ourselves and the conditions as “we see them to be” to be the conditions that God himself is living in. Only then can we begin to see beyond the faux pas in others, and see the good in them. A person, powered by love, is a person powered by relentless belief. If we love and believe, we can learn from everyone and everything. Life itself becomes the greatest spiritual master.

I see some of my friends conduct acts of kindness, when I look at them, I am inspired and they are then my Gurus. In India we do not have to go far actually, to find Gurus. An average Indian woman, assumes the role of a mother, sister, wife, homemaker and bread-earner flawlessly. She is indeed the very embodiment of the divine Universal energy, seamlessly donning multiple hats. No one can be a better Guru on time management, humility, selfless service and compassion, than her.

Then do we need to seek a smart orator, in ochre robes, who sits on a high chair and siphons money out of unwary devotees on the premise of some divine communion? I see my daughter, 1.5 years old, who without a moments hesitation feeds me a morsel of the bread that I give her to eat. That is unconditional love there. What does she know, if I am going to be a good father or not, if I am a worthy individual to be with or not. She just performs this innocuous act out of pure love. There is no judgement here. She is my guru!

To have a Guru or Not is never the question. If we truly believe, then spirituality, Guru, religion, love, life and God will all happen.

Belief is nothing but relentless expectation. There is absolutely nothing wrong with expectation, it is in fact a very honest human construct. Human beings can never be devoid of belief, the very effort of negating all beliefs (nihilism), is also a belief. It is very simple to understand this principle.We are bound within causality of this universe. Every effect tangible or intangible is not without cause. The reason I believe that god can disappear and re-appear is because, I “expect” him to achieve this with tremendous ease. There is an idea and then there is a belief in possibility of this idea. But where does this idea come from ?Either there has been substantial evidence of such an event in the past, which makes me expect a recurrence.Or, I simply am the first to imagine such an event and expect it to manifest some point in time. In this case it is also a certain intuition a more inherent form of expectation. Something inseparable from my existence. In either case, the root premise is expectation. So much so that belief itself is Ego! Expectation is nothing but the self-individuation, the projection of existence in this material frame , the reflection of our awareness in this world. As long as the ego remains, expectations will remain, beliefs will be formed, destroyed and reformed. Only when the ego dies, expectations die.Love is nothing but the death of ego. Love is not an emotion, say like compassion. It is merely a state, a very high state of the mind. Ego is the barrier between the higher mind and its smaller projection that we struggle with in our day to day life. The Ego dies and connects us to a something gargantuan, something beyond measure.

What is God? Is he a personal being? Or is it an impersonal force? What is being? Ramana Maharishi says it is simple. It is in the now. Who am I? Who is feeling, thinking, seeing and being? Ask this recursive, seemingly abysmal question. Do not stop at anything. Only when you drill down deep in the recesses of the mind, there is no assumption, there is just being.When our consciousness moves, it creates sensation of time. A larger consciousness, creates large space and time. As large as the Universe or Multiple universes. We are the thoughts of a greater mind, when we look at its movement, we see past, present and future.

Whereas, in absolute non-relativistic reality, it is just one instant, everything is happening in it simultaneously. There is no past, no present, no future. It just is. This happening is being.

An incorporeal entity, a personal being, the ground of all being, many religious beliefs describe God as “I am what I am” or “that is”. Hindus call it the “bramhan”, Hebrews called it YHVH or yahweh or yehova.The one who is truly being or that is truly being, thus is the supreme being.

If the only thing you were good at was being, then you could be everything.

” There is a great difference between being like a child, and being childish”

A child is often used as an example by many spiritual leaders, self-management advocates in their books and speeches. We often hear them say “be like a child” or “do not let the child within you die” and so on. What does it mean?Before we attempt to question the meaning of the metaphor, let us first analyze the need of such a statement. A child is closer to the beginning of life, it is a simpler version, less thought crowded and more observant version of a grown up. It is also very submissive to life The use of this example prompts us to be simpler in life.

Most children try to do or actually do the things they are told not to. So does this mean “be like a child”. Yes! and No!

Most children act without a prior thought to the consequence of the action. Does this mean “be like a child”. Yes! and No!